(CNN) - Jesse Jackson Jr. grew up in his father's shadow, placing him on history's stage as the Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr. led civil rights campaigns, including Operation PUSH and the Rainbow Coalition.

Jackson was born in 1965, just months before President Lyndon Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act, which forced election changes that opened up the political process for African-Americans in the United States.

He spent his 21st birthday in a District of Columbia jail cell after being arrested in an anti-apartheid protest at the South African Embassy in 1986, according to the biography on his congressional website.

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